Houston—As the national debate on how to fix healthcare rages on, SEIU Local 1 today is releasing compelling data from the Houston Service Workers Clinic that show the power of a personal physician to help workers stay healthy and contain medical costs.

“It’s important for people to have access to a doctor before an illness gets worse,” says Elena Marks, Director of Health and Environmental Policy for the City of Houston. “If there is no access to care in the early stages of a sickness, then people wind up in emergency rooms or hospitals. That’s just not an efficient way to deliver medical care.” 

SEIU has conducted a utilization review of the first five months of the clinic’s operation, February 1 to June 30, 2009. A comparison of clinic data to nationwide utilization data provided by a national health insurer CIGNA shows that personalized care, preventive medicine, early detection of disease, and reduced bureaucracy improve health outcomes and reduce medical costs.

There are no co-pays or patient visit limits to the clinic. By encouraging patients to visit their personal doctor, the clinic in its first 5 months has seen:

·         More check-ups. Normally 35.4 percent of patients visit the doctor. But 43.5 percent of clinic members use the clinic.

·         Lower cost per member. Nationwide, the expected cost per member is $4,010.  The clinic’s average payment per member is just $946.

·         Lower outpatient hospital costs. The expected nationwide outpatient payment is $2,125. The clinic average is $883.

·         Fewer emergency room visits. Per 1,000 patients, there are normally 208 visits per year to the emergency room. The rate for clinic members is just 54.5. Fewer ER visits translate into reduced costs. Per 1000 patients, the normal cost is $75,500 per year for ER visits versus just $25,700 per year for clinic patients.

·         Lower cost of prescription drugs. The average payment per prescription is $61. By encouraging the use of generic prescription drugs, the average prescription payment for clinic members is $18.

The Houston Service Workers Clinic, staffed by physicians from Houston’s Baylor College of Medicine, delivers care at a fraction of the cost of other insurance plans. Through the clinic, Houston janitors have affordable access to medical information, nutritional counseling, and such treatments as diabetes medication, mammograms, mental health services, in most cases for the first time.